June 7-9, 2039: vs Chicago White Sox (3)
 

June 7: Activated OF Pat Moyer from the 10-day IL, optioned OF Ray Cervantes to AAA Durham.

Jose Mendez stays up while Cervantes, with the team since Opening Day, heads to Durham. I preferred Mendez's RH bat off the bench to Cervantes' LH bat, as well as the fact that Mendez is a good defensive OF and Cervantes is not.

Game 1: The Rays' June swoon continued as they were shut down at home, something that does not happen often, in a 4-1 loss to the White Sox. Mike McKee continues to be the one who supplies the offense when nobody else does, and his 13th HR of the year kept the Rays from being shut out. Danny Romero wasn't all that sharp tonight, flirting with trouble all night until it found him for 4 runs in the 5th as he finished 5 6 4 4 4 3 and dropped to 8-3, 3.35.

Game 2: Nate Thompson came through with an excellent start tonight, no-hitting Chicago through 4 and finishing 7 3 2 2 1 1 as pitching to contact worked while his mates got just enough offense to win 4-2. Thompson's now 6-1, 3.13, Ken Neil did his job for once with a 1-2-3 8th and Kikuo Kawase nailed down save #16. Ramon Ruiz was the unlikely offensive hero tonight, going 3-4 with HR #4 and Jimmy Leonard's two-run double in the bottom of the 7th broke a 2-2 tie.

June 9: Activated P Jon Harbour from the restricted list, optioned P Danny Hill to AAA Durham.

Game 3: Jon Harbour got a couple of extra days rest thanks to his suspension for plunking a Texas hitter, and the time off did him wonders as he twirled a 4-hit shutout in a 5-0 Rays win as they strung together consecutive wins for the first time in 11 days. Harbour walked 1, fanned 7, and threw a healthy 122 pitches to improve to 8-1, 4.88. Daniel Vasquez had a big RBI double in the first, Jim Gebers launched a solo shot in the 3rd (#9) and Jimmy Leonard had a 2-run blast in the 6th (#14). One Ray who suddenly stopped hitting though is Ben Hill, who was given yesterday's game off but went 0-4 again tonight and is now in a 2-for-34 slump which has seen his batting average plummet from .392 to .347. There's no question he was due for some regression, but the pendulum has really swung here.

Team record: 44-18. Next up: Oakland visits for 4 games over the weekend which includes a rare scheduled doubleheader for Saturday.

June 10-12, 2039: vs Oakland (4)
 

Game 1: Tim Gates was rocked for the second straight start and the Rays' recent struggles continued in a 7-2 loss to Oakland at Publix Park. Gates was tuned up to the tune of 3.1 6 5 5 2 6 and has allowed 13 runs in his last two starts over 6.2 innings, seeing his ERA jump from 3.78 to 5.03 as he fell to 6-3. The lone offensive highlight for the Rays was Jim Gebers' 10th HR of the year, a solo shot.

Game 2: We had a rare scheduled doubleheader today and the Rays took the first game 12-3 as they rediscovered their offense. Jimmy Leonard, our MVP so far, had a massive game going 3-3 with 2 homers, a double, 4 runs scored and 4 RBI. Mike McKee drove in 3 with Daniel Vasquez and Ramon Ruiz plating a pair. Ron Adams wasn't his sharpest, but got the win with a 6.2 9 3 3 3 3 outing to improve to 6-3, 3.47.

Game 3: The Rays swept the doubleheader from Oakland behind a strong outing from spot starter Steve Abeles, who went 5.2 6 1 1 2 5 for his second win of the year with Jesus Morales contributing 3 scoreless innings. Daniel Vasquez got things going in the first with a 2-run HR (#16) and Ramon Ruiz capped a nice doubleheader with 2 more RBI.

Game 4: Tampa Bay made it 3 of 4 over Oakland with a convincing 8-3 defeat of the A's. Danny Romero was solid as usual (6 7 3 2 0 4) as he went to 9-3, 3.32 and Jimmy Leonard led the offense once again, 3-4 with a HR (#17), double and 2 RBI as he's up to 317/394/726 and 3.4 WAR. Jim Gebers also had big day, going 4-4 with 3 RBI and Pat Moyer chipped in with HR #4.

Team record: 47-19. Next up: An off-day then 2 games in Toronto, who recently had a 12-game winning streak to shake off a slow start and get into wild card contention.

June 14-15, 2039: at Toronto (2)
 

Game 1: The Rays were listless in a 6-1 loss to Toronto at Rogers Centre. The bats were held to 5 hits with only Daniel Malone showing up as he reached all 4 times on 2 hits and 2 walks. Nate Thompson didn't give up a hit through 3, but fell apart in the middle innings finishing 4.2 6 5 5 3 3.

Game 2: Tampa Bay snapped back with a 7-2 win over the Jays thanks to a 5-hit performance from Daniel Vasquez. The first sacker was 5-5 and had the game's biggest hit, an RBI triple in the 7th which broke a 2-2 tie. That triple was followed by back-to-back homers from Pat Moyer (#5) and Danny Ayala (#15, his first in a month) to break the game open. Jon Harbour started and went 5 7 2 2 3 4 with Vinny Willard contributing three scoreless innings for his 2nd win. Willard did particularly well getting out of the jam Harbour left him with men on 2nd and 3rd and nobody out in the 6th without allowing a run.

Team record: 48-20. Next up: 4 games in Detroit.

June 16-19, 2039: at Detroit (4)
 

Game 1: The Rays blasted 8 homers in a wild 13-6 win over the Tigers at Comerica Park to open a 4-game series. Daniel Vasquez followed up his 5-hit game with a pair of homers (#s 17 & 18) and 3 RBI, Quincy Sigele reach double digits with a pair of his own and 3 RBI too, while Mike McKee (#14), Ben Hill (#19), Jeff Baez (#2) and Jimmy Leonard (#18) all found the seats. Tim Gates was the beneficiary of the homer barrage, going a mediocre 6.1 7 4 4 3 5 to improve to 7-3 with an ERA still over 5.

Game 2: Ron Adams served up 3 Detroit homers and the Rays fell 7-3 to the Tigers. Adams was 5 7 4 4 3 7 and the bullpen wasn't any better in the loss. Pat Moyer was 3-4 with a solo HR (#6) and Danny Ayala was 3-3 with an RBI.

Game 3: The Rays pounded the longball again with 4 homers in a 10-5 win over Detroit, although Jeff Baez had the big hits with a pair of doubles which drove in 4, including a bases-loaded job that turned a 5-4 lead into an 8-4 one. Daniel Vasquez made his bid for player of the week with HR #19, Daniel Malone hit #10, Ramon Ruiz #6, and Ben Hill became the first Ray to reach 20 homers this year. Danny Romero pitched OK and got the win, going 6 9 4 4 0 5 and improving to 10-2, 3.50. Jesus Morales went the final 3 for his first MLB save.

Game 4: Even in the games they've won lately the Rays have given up quite a few runs, and today they couldn't hold a 5-1 lead in a 9-6 loss. Nate Thompson had a bare-minimum quality start at 6 6 3 3 1 5 and Tampa Bay led 5-3 going into the bottom of the 7th but Ken Burgess completely lost it, giving up 5 runs in total including a 3-run homer which put Detroit ahead, and Vinny Willard wasn't much help in relief of him. Mike McKee always seems to hit in our losses, and today he belted a pair of solo homers to give him 16, while Ben Hill had his first 2-hit game in 3 weeks and drove in a pair.

Team record: 50-22. Next up: We return home for some interleague play with 3 against Cincinnati.

June 20-22, 2039: vs Cincinnati (3)
 

Game 1: The Rays squandered a 4-1 lead in the series opener but got a walk-off RBI single from Ben Hill in the bottom of the 9th to take a 5-4 win over the Reds at Publix Park. Hill's game-winner capped a big night for him after he had homered in the 5th (#21) with two on to put the Rays ahead 4-1. But Jon Harbour, with some "help" from Damani Cotton, gave up 3 runs in the 6th to allow Cincinnati to tie. Harbour finished 5.1 6 4 4 4 2 in a shaky outing with Kikuo Kawase picking up his 2nd win with a scoreless 9th.

Game 2: For the first time in six games the Rays held an opponent under 4 runs as Tim Gates was sharp in an 8-1 win. It was a 1-1 game until the bottom of the 6th when Tampa Bay erupted for 6 runs on a 2-run Jimmy Leonard triple and a Jeff Baez grand slam (#3). Daniel Vasquez capped a 3-4, 2-RBI day with HR #20 in the 7th. Gates meanwhile went 6 6 1 1 1 3 for his first decent start in his last four and improved to 8-3, 4.83.

Game 3: The Rays were completely dominated by young Reds star pitcher Jeff "Kent" Brockman, eking out an unearned run in the 6th as he went 6.1 5 1 0 0 10 against them and Tampa Bay trailed 3-1. But once he left the game on 95 pitches the Rays went to town on the Cincinnati bullpen and once the dust settled they had a 12-3 win to sweep the series. Reliever Juan Mata walked the first man he faced, gave up a Jeff Baez triple and a Daniel Malone single to allow the Rays to tie, and he walked a couple more to set up a 2-run Jim Gebers single which broke the tie. This brought in former Ray Danny Ceja, and he too was pounded for 5 runs on top of Mata's 6 with the big hit off him a 2-run Mike McKee double. Ron Adams hung around long enough for the win, going 7.2 7 3 3 3 11 and improving to 7-4, 3.68.

Team record: 53-22. Next up: An off-day before Baltimore visits for 3 over the weekend.

June 24-26, 2039: vs Baltimore (3)
 

The Friday night opener was rained out, so we played a doubleheader on Saturday.

Game 1: Danny Romero was in good form, but maybe stayed in a bit too long and the 2-run homer he allowed in the 7th meant a 3-2 Rays loss to Baltimore in the first game of the doubleheader. It was a 1-1 game going into the 7th and Romero had struck out 10, but after putting a man on he gave up a 2-run homer to veteran slugger Parks Harber and they couldn't recover. Romero finished 7 4 3 3 1 11 in defeat, dropping to 10-4, 3.53. Quincy Siegle's solo shot in the 9th (#12) brought them within one but that was it.

Game 2: The Rays salvaged a split of the doubleheader after coming back late to take a 6-4 win over Baltimore. Steve Abeles got the start in the nightcap and pitched very well except for the 2 runs he allowed in the 1st. The Rays answered those runs with 2 of their own in the bottom of the inning, one of which came on Daniel Vasquez's 21st HR of the year. Vasquez kept getting hits every time up, and he was on with a double in the 7th when Jim Gebers lined a single to score him and break the 2-2 tie. Abeles meanwhile had gone a fine 6 6 2 2 2 9 and Ken Burgess got him out of the 7th. But Ken Neil crapped the bed again, allowing the tying run in the 8th and then the go-ahead run after a Gebers error. The offense bailed him out in the bottom of the frame though as Danny Ayala hit a big pinch-double, Daniel Malone singled in the tying run, and then Vasquez capped a 5-hit day by singling in the winner. Neil vultured the win and Kikuo Kawase notched save #17.

Game 3: Nate Thompson breezed through the first 3 innings with 1 hit allowed and 4 whiffs before completely imploding in the 4th, allowing 7 runs as the Rays dropped the series to Baltimore after a 7-1 loss. It might not have mattered that much as the bats couldn't get anything going until scoring a consolation run in the 9th. Thompson saw his ERA jump from 3.59 to 4.16 after the shelling and fell to 6-3.

Team record: 54-24. Next up: An off-day then we visit Pittsburgh for 3 games.

June 28-30, 2039: at Pittsburgh (3)
 

June 28: Placed OF Jose Mendez on the 10-day IL with a pulled abdominal muscle, recalled OF Josh Alexander from AAA Durham.

Mendez pulled the muscle playing golf. Alexander gets the call instead of Ray Cervantes, not so much because Cervantes hasn't hit since he went down (he has) but I wanted to get a look at Alexander, who still projects to be a 290/400/590 guy despite some ups and downs at Durham. Like fellow young OFs Ben Hill and Cervantes, Alexander is a really lousy defensive OF though.

Game 1: Josh Alexander made an impressive MLB debut and Tim Gates turned in his second fine start in a row as the Rays handled the Pirates 7-1 at PNC Park. The rookie doubled and scored in his first at-bat in the 2nd and then made it 4-0 Rays in the 3rd with a 3-run homer in his 2nd trip. The still-boiling-hot Daniel Vasquez added a 3-run blast (#22) in the 6th. Gates meanwhile cruised through his outing, finishing 7 5 1 1 2 5 and improving to 9-3, 4.56.

Game 2: The Rays took a 2-0 first-inning lead on solo homers from Daniel Malone (#11) and Danny Ayala (#16) but that was good as it got for them as the Pirates jumped all over Ron Adams and pummeled the Rays 9-3. Adams cruised through the first two innings but gave up 4 in the 3rd and 3 more in the 4th and saw his ERA jump to 4.11 and his record drop to 7-5.

Game 3: Rinse and repeat. Once again the Rays took a quick 2-0 lead, tonight on Jimmy Leonard's 19th homer, but Jon Harbour lost his way in the 4th allowing 4 runs, and the Rays dropped the series to Pittsburgh with a 5-2 loss. The bats were held to 3 hits on the night in a sad performance and they finished June on an 8-7 skid (hey it's a "skid" by their standards) and were a mediocre 15-11 for the month.

Team record: 55-26. Next up: 3 games in Baltimore.

No surprise here, considering how ludicrously hot he was although his 20-game hitting streak was snapped in the last game:

https://i.imgur.com/ulKnEqI.png

2039 Midseason review
 

First a look at where things stand around MLB:

https://i.imgur.com/vB5RfI3.png

Despite the Rays' struggles of late there's no threat in the division, although the Astros and Mets are threats to take over the best record in the league if the malaise continues. Here's a look at the team stats:

https://i.imgur.com/6oddjH6.png

And there's one culprit for their problems this year: the pitching and defense are down by their standards. For a while the starters were doing great and the bullpen was terrible but lately the bullpen's been fine while the starters been largely awful. The defense is a big cause of this, with a league-worst (perhaps MLB-worst) defensive efficiency rating. Jeff Baez and his 70 glove at SS has missed a lot of time lately which hasn't helped but there are really no other standout defenders on the team as the Omar Rodriguez departure has worsened our OF defense. And overall the hitting, while still rated the best, isn't quite as dominant as it has been in previous years. So they're having a merely very good regular season so far rather than their usual otherworldly one.

The hitting stats:

https://i.imgur.com/PpWoUzf.png

Revelations: Leonard (doing his best to replace O-Rod), McKee (the best catcher in baseball right now) and Hill (before he slumped badly in June).

Underachievers: Ayala got hot for a while in May but had a dreadful June (2 HR, 8 RBI), Gebers hasn't hit anything like he did last year as a semi-regular and of course having Jaiden Hardaway for only 21 games has been a big blow.

The pitching stats:

https://i.imgur.com/qp3bphT.png

And here's where things get a bit ugly. Outside of Romero and to some extent Nate Thompson, the starters have been highly inconsistent. Jon Harbour in particular has struggled and that's primarily due to being a relative pitch-to-contact guy with a terrible defense behind him. I'm considering moving him to long relief and going with Steve Abeles in the rotation as Abeles has been excellent when called upon and misses more bats than Harbour. Just look at all those hits allowed, though - that's mostly on the D.

July 1-3, 2039: at Baltimore (3)
 

Game 1: The Rays were glad to put June in their rearview mirror, but July didn't start off kind either as they were put to the sword by Baltimore 9-2. And the malaise that's infected the starting rotation finally got to Danny Romero. He took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the 4th and was shelled for 7 runs on a grand slam and a 3-run homer. The bats had no response the rest of the way, finishing with those two runs on only 5 hits.

Game 2: The bats struggled again today but thanks to Nate Thompson and some quality relief the Rays eked out a 2-1 over Baltimore on a pair of solo homers. Thompson was excellent (6 2 1 1 2 5) and after Danny Romero's ERA went over 4 with yesterday's shelling, Thompson became the only Ray with one under that mark as he dropped his to 3.99. Mike McKee hit #17 in the 7th to tie it and Ben Hill took a break from his recent struggles to launch #22 in the 8th for the winner. Ken Neil pitched the 7th and picked up his 2nd Rays win while Kikuo Kawase fanned 3 in the 9th for save #18.

Game 3: Thanks to a big game from the recently-quiet Danny Ayala the Rays took 2 of 3 in the series with a 5-3 win over the Orioles at Camden Yards. Ayala broke a 3-3 tie in the 7th with an RBI single after equalizing the inning before with HR #17 as he tallied 3 hits on the day. Mike McKee homered for the second straight day earlier (#17) and Quincy Siegle added insurance in the 8th with HR #13. Tim Gates started and was OK outside of a 3-run homer allowed, going 5.2 4 3 3 2 10 (good to see the strikeouts back), while Joe Trader recorded his 5th win in relief with Kikuo Kawase again getting the save (#19) although he made things interesting with a pair of walks before getting his 3rd whiff to end the game.

Team record: 57-27. Next up: Weirdly we get July 4th off before traveling to Wrigley Field to face the Cubs for a pair of games.

July 5-6, 2039: at Chicago Cubs (2)
 

July 4: Sent 2B Jaiden Hardaway to AAA Durham on a rehab assignment.

J-Hard has already hit 3 homers in his first 2 games at Durham but we'll give him a few more after we apparently rushed him back last time.

Game 1: Ron Adams got hit for three runs in the first inning and that was the ballgame as the Rays' bats were held to three hits in a 5-0 loss at Wrigley Field. A Quincy Siegle error meant those runs were unearned but Adams still wasn't sharp, going 5 8 4 1 3 5.

Game 2: The Rays' bullpen has been better of late after a rough start to the season, but they let the team down today in an 8-7, 11-inning loss to the Cubs which saw them blow a 7-2 lead. The Rays had taken the substantial lead primarily due to homers from Josh Alexander (#2, a 2-run shot), Ben Hill (#23) and Jim Gebers (#11). Jon Harbour turned in a decent start, going 5.1 7 2 2 2 3 and all the ingredients were in place for a win. But Joe Trader, Jose Morales, Ken Neil and Ken Burgess all were touched for runs with the latter taking the loss although Neil was the biggest culprit, entrusted with a 7-5 lead in the bottom of the 8th with two lefties due. He allowed the leadoff lefty to reach and then gave up a 2-run homer to another, enabling the Cubs to tie it up.

Team record: 57-29. Next up: Back home for 4 vs Boston before we hit the All-Star break.

July 7-10, 2039: vs Boston (4)
 

Game 1: The Rays took the series opener from Boston in a rare 1-0 game at Publix Park. Danny Romero started and went the first 5 going 5 3 0 0 1 7 but the rains came in the bottom of the inning and he had to leave after a 62-minute delay. Vinny Willard came to the rescue with 3 2-hit innings and 5 Ks while Kikuo Kawase picked up save #20 with a two-whiff perfect 9th. Romero is now 11-5, 3.92. The lone run came right after the rain delay ended in the bottom of the 5th as Jeff Baez walked, stole second and scored on a 2-out single by Daniel Vasquez.

Game 2: No pitchers' duel today as the Rays bombed the Red Sox 12-4. It was a strange box score to look at as 5 of the spots in the Rays' lineup combined to go 2-19 with 0 RBI, while the other 4 did all the work. Daniel Vasquez was 4-5 with 2 doubles and HR #23, a solo shot; Jimmy Leonard was 3-4 with a double, HR #20 and 3 RBI; Danny Ayala went 2-4 with a double and 3 RBI, and Jim Gebers was 3-5 with a 2-run double and a 2-run homer (#12). Nate Thompson was outstanding on the mound, going 7.1 6 2 1 2 4 to improve to 7-3, 3.79.

July 9: Activated 2B Jaiden Hardaway from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham, optioned IF Quincy Siegle to AAA Durham.

Siegle did decently filling in for J-Hard but despite his 13 homers you just don't replace a 5-time MVP.

Game 3: The bats were kept in check by Red Sox rookie lefty Ricky Jaramillo as they dropped a 4-2 decision to Boston at Publix Park. Jaramillo went 6 4 0 0 1 8 against them with the only runs coming on a 2-run Danny Ayala shot (#18) off the Boston bullpen. Jaiden Hardaway had a double in his return to the lineup. On the mound Tim Gates wasn't his best but not terrible at 6 5 4 3 3 7.

Game 4: The Rays went into the All-Star break on a winning note thanks primarily to Jeff Baez as they beat Boston 8-4. The shortstop had a career day, going 3-3 with 7(!) RBI, on a 2-run single, a bases-clearing double, and another 2-run single. Mike McKee was on base all four times he was up with a 3 walks and an RBI single but it was the Baez Show. Rays pitching held Boston to 2 hits for the entire game but one of them was a grand slam yielded by Ron Adams after he had walked the bases loaded in the 4th. He finished with a bizarre 6 2 4 4 3 5 line as he was hardly touched otherwise and is now 8-6, 4.11.

Team record: 60-30. Next up: The All-Star break, and when we return to action we'll be starting a west coast road trip with 3 in Anaheim.

All-Star Break 2039
 

The Rays are very well-represented in this year's All-Star game, details as follows:

https://i.imgur.com/SaglJhf.png
https://i.imgur.com/N2P5e92.png
https://i.imgur.com/DYpmS74.png

So yeah, we have the starting catcher, 2B, all 3 outfielders and the DH, or 6 of the 9 lineup spots. Not to mention the starter (who should start since he pitched last on Thursday) and the closer. So it'll almost be like another game for the team.

The Home Run Derby:

https://i.imgur.com/JdiR6Hh.png

Daniel Vasquez was the only Rays' participant and he was knocked in the first round by MLB HR leader Andy Hannan of the Rockies, sitting on 35 at the moment.

The game itself:

https://i.imgur.com/p7J9dVg.png

The Rays beat the National League 13-5, or at least it seemed that way. Tampa Bay hitters went a combined 7-15 with a homer, 4 RBI and a steal with Danny Ayala going deep. Danny Romero had a scoreless 1st and with the game a blowout in the end, Kikuo Kawase wasn't used.

Let the trading begin
 

So all of this started when I saw that Jose Mendez was upgraded for contact and power in the player development report, and it got me thinking about how under-utilized Pat Moyer was, playing mostly only against lefties despite being a 35-40 HR guy if he were playing every day. So I decided to shop Moyer, figuring I could just bring Mendez back up as a RH-hitting 4th OF who's also a better fielder than Moyer.

Of course the funny thing was that in the process of shopping Moyer I cooked up 3 deals and ironically none of them ended up involving Moyer. Two were made and the third was offered to the other GM who wanted to think about it (although I'm guessing he turns it down since the "make it work" guys were all at least 2-3 star players). Here's the first of the completed deals, and the biggest for now:

https://i.imgur.com/0vNOmEe.png

Dorminy is one of the most dominant relievers in the game this side of Kikuo Kawase and like Kawase he's equally adept at putting away lefties as well as righties. Minnesota was willing to deal him as he's already making $6M+, and stands to get about 9.5 in arbitration next year. The price was very reasonable for me, as Reece had pitched his way out of my favor and was never going to get it back with his 45 control despite very good stuff, and Boatman is as slick a fielder as they come but just can't hit, meaning I was never going to use him as a regular. Estepp is a long shot to amount to anything.

To make room for Dorminy, I'm optioning Jesus Morales to Durham. He really doesn't deserve it (2.93 ERA, 16/51 BB/K ratio in 46 IP, only 4 HR allowed) but he was one of the few pitchers in the pen with options. I briefly entertained the though of sending down Ken Neil, but that would leave me with only two lefties and Neil owes us some good innings after the bad ones. Dorminy will take over the 8th inning from Ken Burgess and Neil, who would alternate depending on batter-handedness and now will do so in the 7th. I don't see keeping Dorminy next year at nearly $10M so he will likely get flipped for a prospect this winter.

This led to another deal:

https://i.imgur.com/7DHnOQM.png

I'm really not sure what the problem is with Recinos as the Mets were literally giving him away, which is what they did here as Boersma was a minor league free agent we signed playing in complex ball. I mean, look at Recinos:

https://i.imgur.com/k48Zr8p.png

This is the profile of a massive (which he is at 6'5", 220) slugging first baseman who should hit 40 doubles, 30-35 homers, and draw 90-100 walks a season. And while he's a lefty hitter his ratings splits are not that bad against lefty pitching. If you want to nitpick, he's probably a .250-.260 hitter (who cares when you draw 100 walks?), he's a mediocre defensive 1B (also who cares?) and he takes up a 40-man roster spot and the Mets started his clock this year by calling him up and using him as a pinch-hitter the last few weeks. But he isn't a clubhouse cancer so I'm baffled, but happy. He'll go to Durham and help out our organizational depth at the position which is somewhat weak (unless I want to convert one of my good-hitting but lousy-fielding OF prospects).

As for the potential third deal, it involves pitching and it involves the Cubs and I'll leave it there for now.

July 15-17, 2039: at LA Angels (3)
 

Game 1: Rookie Josh Alexander led the Rays to an 8-3 win over the Angels in the first game back after the break at Anaheim Stadium. Alexander doubled his HR total with a 3-run shot in the 1st and a solo blast in the 3rd. Jeff Baez picked up where he left off before the break with a 2-run double and the Rays had a 7-0 lead in the 3rd. Nate Thompson rolled for the win, going 7 5 3 3 2 7 to improve to 8-3, 3.80.

OK here's the deal with the Cubs I was alluding to in the previous post, completed as Chicago's demands for an additional player were much less than anticipated (36-year-old Billy Thompson):

https://i.imgur.com/w4Bf0Em.png

Balladares is a rental but someone I've always liked with premium stuff. I plan to use him in the rotation and move Jon Harbour into Cotton's long relief role. Tillman has spent the last few years at Durham and has a great contact tool as he's hit over .300 each of those seasons but it's an empty .300 as he draws few walks and has no power to speak of.

Game 2: For 7 innings it was a taut pitchers' duel between Tim Gates and LA's Kevin Epperly, a former Rays prospect traded 10 years ago to St. Louis as part of the Victor de Jesus deal. Epperly's carved out a decent career and today was stifling the Rays through 7 as it was 1-1. But Tampa Bay erupted for 8 runs in the 8th off Epperly and the Angels' pen and walked away with a 10-1 win. Danny Ayala broke the 1-1 tie with an RBI single and Pat Moyer, on the trading block, drilled a 3-run homer to break it open and Daniel Malone capped the inning with a grand slam (#12). Moyer then added his second of the game (#8) in the 9th, a solo shot. Unfortunately for Gates he had to leave with two out in the 7th after going 6.2 4 1 1 5 3 so he ended up with no-decision as Ken Burgess notched his 2nd win in relief.

Game 3: Similar to yesterday's game today's affair was a low-scoring game with the Rays up 2-1 after 7, but they scored 4 times in the 8th to take a 6-2 win over the Angels and sweep the series. Jimmy Leonard was the hitting star with an RBI single in the 3rd and a solo homer leading off the 8th (#21) to break the ice. Meanwhile Ron Adams was outstanding, going 7.2 5 1 1 2 4 to improve to 9-6, 3.91. Pat Dorminy made his Rays debut getting Adams out of the 8th and then stayed on, and allowed a solo homer while fanning 3 in total in 1 inning of work.

Team record: 63-30. Next up: 3 games in Oakland.

July 18-20, 2039: at Oakland (3)
 

Game 1: The Rays kept taking the lead and Danny Romero kept giving it back as Tampa Bay fell to Oakland 5-4 in the first game of their series. Josh Alexander's 2-run double made it 2-1 Rays in the 4th, and Romero gave up a 2-run homer in the bottom of the inning, and then Alexander blasted a 2-run HR (#5) in the 6th to put the Rays ahead 4-3, and of course Romero allowed another 2-run homer. The lefty finished 6 6 5 5 2 3 and fell to 11-6, 4.11. The Rays suffered the further indignity of seeing Mike Wherry strike out the side in the 9th for the save as he's been lights-out with Oakland while Ken Neil has mostly struggled for Tampa Bay.

Game 2: In a bid to keep his spot in the starting rotation Jon Harbour turned in one of his best outings of the year, going 6 3 1 1 2 6 in a 3-1 Rays win. Harbour improved to 9-2, 4.82 after a start he made primarily because Luis Balladares was used by the Cubs in relief during the first game back from the break. Ken Neil got some measure of vindication with a 1-2-3 8th with 2 whiffs, getting the call over Pat Dorminy since Oakland had 3 lefties scheduled up, and Kikuo Kawase took care of the 9th for save #21. Jaiden Hardaway had the game's big hit, a 2-run double in the 5th which broke a 1-1 tie, his first big hit since coming off nearly two months on two IL stints.

Game 3: Luis Balladares went 5 1/3 shutout innings in his Rays debut as Tampa Bay rolled Oakland 7-0 to take two out of three in the series. The bats made Balladares feel at home and relaxed as they put 6 on the board in the top of the 1st, with the big hits a 2-run homer from Daniel Vasquez, the first of two he hit to give him 25, and a 2-run double by Daniel Malone. Balladares went 5.1 3 0 0 5 3 so he wasn't exactly on his "A" game, but it was good enough and he combined with three relievers for the shutout.

Team record: 65-31. Next up: An off-day to travel back across the country to Tampa, where we we'll host Texas for 3 games.

July 22-24, 2039: vs Texas (3)
 

Game 1: The Rays were routed 8-0 by Texas upon their return home to Publix Park. Despite the final score it was a game the Rays could have at least been competitive in had they got some hits with RISP as they had 7 hits and 6 walks. Nate Thompson (8-4) went 5.2 4 3 2 3 2 and kept them in it, but Vinny Willard was bombed for 4 runs in the 7th and that was the ballgame.

Game 2: Danny Ayala's had a down year by his standards, coming into the game with only 18 homers as we're nearly 2/3 of the way into the season. But he broke out of it today, homering three times and driving in 4 in a 9-5 Rays win. He was aided by Daniel Vasquez, who had a 2-run shot for a team best 26, and Jaiden Hardaway and Josh Alexander who each had 3-hit games. Tim Gates turned in a minimal quality start at 6 6 3 3 2 6 to improve to 10-4, 4.38 and after Chris Toombs made a mess in the 7th, Pat Dorminy came in and got him out of it with a whiff and fanned two more in the 8th. I'm now thinking I'm going to use Dorminy as a true "fireman", bringing him in whenever we need a big out (especially a whiff) rather than locking him into an 8th-inning setup role, which Ken Burgess can still handle.

Game 3: Ron Adams wasn't very good today and the Rays couldn't quite climb out of the 6-1 hole he put them in, falling just short at 6-5. Adams was hit to the tune of 5.2 8 6 6 2 8 and until the 6th all the bats could manage was a solo homer from Ramon Ruiz (#7) off former Rays ace Jon Hayes. But they put 4 on the board off Hayes in the bottom of the 6th and Daniel Vasquez's 2-out double nearly tied it but the runner held at 3rd, couldn't be brought home, and the Rays couldn't get anything going in the final 3 frames.

Team record: 66-33. Next up: Baltimore's in town for 3.

July 25-27, 2039: vs Baltimore (3)
 

Game 1: Danny Romero and the bullpen couldn't hold an early 4-0 lead and the Rays dropped their third game in four 6-4 to Baltimore at Publix Park. Pat Moyer hit his 9th homer to spark the early rally but Romero allowed 2 in the 4th and 2 more in the 5th and left with the game tied after going 5 6 4 4 2 9. And after Joe Trader got through the 6th, Pat Dorminy served up a 2-run homer to Josh Hutchinson and the bats couldn't scrounge any more runs. That's Dorminy's first loss as a Ray and he's now allowed 2 homers in 5 1/3 innings since joining the team, following in Ken Neil's footsteps.

Game 2: Things looked bleak for the Rays as they were a couple of outs away from losing their 4th in 5 games but Jaiden Hardaway came to the rescue with a 2-run, walk-off homer in the bottom of the 10th to give the Rays a 2-1 win. After the Orioles scored in the top of the 10th off Kikuo Kawase (only the 2nd run he's allowed all year and first since May 5) in his second inning of work, Jeff Baez doubled with one out and Hardaway hit only his 2nd homer of the year and first since returning from missing 2 months to give the Rays the win. Luis Balladares was excellent but wild once again in his second Rays start, going 6 2 0 0 4 8 and has yet to allow a run in Rays colors.

Game 3: Like the first game of the series the Rays had a decent early lead but unlike the first game they held on to win, taking a 4-3 decision over Baltimore. Jaiden Hardaway picked up where he left off the day before, homering to lead off the game (#3) and he added a sac fly while Daniel Malone also went deep for #13 and it was 4-1 after 3. Nate Thompson was in constant trouble throughout his outing but limited the damage to finish 6.1 6 2 2 4 6 and pick up the win to go to 9-4, 3.72. Joe Trader gave up a homer to former Ray Mike Harms to allow the Orioles within 1, but Vinny Willard came through to get the final 5 outs as the main men of the pen were tired, picking up his 3rd save of the year.

Team record: 68-34. Next up: 4 games in New York against the Yankees. We were originally slated to face former Ray Leo Ortega in the second game but the Yankees shipped him across town to the Mets for a prospect.

July 28-31, 2039: at NY Yankees (4)
 

Game 1: After struggling to score runs of late (relative to their normal output) the Rays broke out for a 9-3 win, putting trios of runs on the board in the 3rd, 4th and 6th innings. Jaiden Hardaway is finally rounding back into MVP form and he homered two more times today among his 4 hits, and driving in 4, giving him four homers in his last 3 games and 5 on the year. The Dans Ayala and Vasquez hit 2-run homers as well, #s 22 and 27 respectively. Tim Gates got the win going 6.1 6 3 3 2 6 and is now 11-4.

Game 2: The Rays continued to bang the ball around Yankee Stadium as they took a 9-5 win. Ramon Ruiz swung the big bat with a 2-run double and a 2-run homer (#8) and Jeff Baez had a 2-run double as the bottom of the order came through tonight. Ron Adams was solid for the win at 6 4 3 1 2 7 to go to 10-7, 4.05, and after Steve Abeles made a mess in the 8th to allow the Yankees within 3, Pat Dorminy went the final 1 2/3 for his first Rays save.

Game 3: Rinse and repeat as a Mike McKee grand slam (#19) in the 1st inning sent the Rays on their way to an 8-3 victory, their third straight in the series and fifth consecutive overall. Josh Alexander (#6) and Danny Ayala (#23) added 2-run blasts later to back a dominating-at-times outing from Danny Romero, who went 6.1 5 3 3 1 12 with the 12 whiffs tying a season-high as he improved to 12-6, 4.24.

Game 4: Tampa Bay completed the 4-game sweep with a come-from-behind 7-5 triumph over the Yankees as Jim Gebers' 2-run shot (#13) in the 8th put the Rays ahead to stay. Ramon Ruiz added a 2-run double after Gebers' homer to make it 7-4 after he had homered earlier (#9) with a man on to give him his 2nd 4-RBI game in 3 days. Luis Balladares started and had a rough first, allowing 3 runs on 33 pitches but stuck around to go 5 7 4 3 1 5. Steve Abeles picked up the win getting the final out of the 7th, his 3rd, and after Ken Neil made a mess in the 8th allowing a run and leaving two on, Kikuo Kawase closed the door with a 5-out, 4-whiff save, his 22nd.

Team record: 72-34. Next up: Another 4-game series, this time in Houston.

July Players of the Month
 

Before I get into the monthly honorees, some news around MLB.

Omar Rodriguez became the latest recent former Ray to suffer a substantial injury this year. O-Rod will miss 6 weeks with a hamstring strain, part of a somewhat disappointing year for the San Francisco Giant. He's hitting 300/357/462, but with only 8 HR and 49 RBI as he hasn't brought the kind of production with him he featured with us. Part of it is going from a great hitting environment at Publix Park to the Giants' ballpark, but the Giants had eyes on contending this year after adding a bat like his to their "young guns" pitching staff, but instead they're barely on the periphery of the NL Wild Card race.

Damani Cotton, traded to the Cubs a couple of weeks ago for Luis Balladares, is also on the shelf now after he also strained a hamstring and will miss 5-6 weeks as well. Chicago leads the NL Central so his absence could be a bit more costly. And O-Rod and Cotton are on top of the long-term injury suffered by another recent Rays mainstay, Bo Angeac with Arizona. Bo has only played 15 games this season and has been out since mid-late April with a severe hip strain. He's slated to be back around September 1 but it's too late for Arizona which fell out of contention. As a result of that fact and that Angeac is a free agent at year's end, Arizona put him on the trading block and I came thisclose to re-acquiring him since Jim Gebers has been a huge disappointment this year. The price was going to be relief prospect Doug Combs, who was acquired from the Giants in the O-Rod deal and has pitched well at AA Montgomery but what made me opt against it was the fact we'd also have to shed someone from the currently-full 40-man roster and there's nobody on there I would want to waive. So I'm hoping some positive regression from Gebers shows up around playoff time.

Now to the awards:

https://i.imgur.com/q9mmtFs.png

Josh Alexander has been this year's Ben Hill, doing nothing but rake after being recalled as the stats cited above reflect. Here's hoping he doesn't repeat Hill's trajectory of getting off to a hot start next year and then going completely cold. Hill is now Alexander's platoon partner at DH on the short side.

https://i.imgur.com/t9eFgBW.png

As alluded to before, Cervantes hasn't sulked since being sent back to Durham earlier this year, even though he has nothing to prove there after going .350-30-100 last year with the Bulls. He didn't get a real fair shake when he was up with only 44 AB and right now he's a victim of our #toomanyoutfielders depth chart. Odds are he's traded this winter as he's too good to waste at Durham.

https://i.imgur.com/mz6MsPX.png

I've also mentioned Pontello before as it's not often you have a guy with MLB-rated 70 power hitting in High-A ball but that's the story here. Of course that 70 power comes with 35 contact. Now if he could hit .270 (or even .250) like he did this month all the time he'd be something special but as you can see his .270 month brought his season average up to .218.

August 1-4, 2039: at Houston (4)
 

Game 1: Despite the best efforts of Daniel Vasquez the Rays lost the series opener to Houston 6-4 at Minute Maid Park. Vasquez drove in all 4 Tampa Bay runs with a triple and 3-run homer (#28) but some bad pitching from Nate Thompson put them in a 6-1 hole from which they couldn't recover. Thompson was tuned up to the tune of 3.2 6 6 5 3 3 and fell to 9-5. Steve Abeles was impressive in a mop-up role, fanning 5 Astros in 2 1/3 scoreless innings.

Game 2: The Rays bounced back from last night's loss behind the arm of Tim Gates, who spun a 5-hit shutout as Tampa Bay romped 8-0. It was the first Rays complete-game shutout for Gates and 2nd career after one with Minnesota as he went 9 5 0 0 1 6 on 114 pitches, improving to 12-4, 4.08. He had plenty of support with Jimmy Leonard going 2-4 with a HR (#22) and 3 RBI against his old team and Ramon Ruiz contributing a 2-run double. Josh Alexander also found the seats with HR #7.

Game 3: Danny Ayala did his best and the Rays kept coming back but fell short in a 9-6 loss to Houston. The slugging LF is showing signs of getting hot as he drilled a pair of solo homers to give him 25, and Jimmy Leonard homered again (#23). But some bad starting pitching kept them behind the 8-ball once again as today it was Ron Adams who struggled, going 4.1 7 6 5 2 5. Still the Rays might have had a chance but Joe Trader inherited two Jon Harbour runners with one out in the 8th and not only allowed them both to score but gave up a run of his own and those 3 runs proved the difference.

Game 4: The Rays will be glad to see the last of Houston until at least the playoffs after getting whitewashed 6-0 by the Astros. Danny Romero turned in the third bad start of the series by a Rays pitcher, getting lit up for 6 8 6 6 1 2 and has now allowed 18 runs in his 4 starts since the All-Star break. The bats only managed 5 hits, with Daniel Vasquez getting 3 of them, but all were singles. Houston now has pulled to within 1 1/2 games of the Rays for best record in the AL (and MLB).

Team record: 73-37. Next up: Back home for some interleague ball with 3 against Milwaukee who's 1/2 game out of the second NL wild card.